Odds of getting in

[Zobo135]

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[Faha]

Are you a Michigan resident ?
You could receive interviews at some DO schools with your current MCAT score and I suggest all these:
ACOM
ARCOM
NYIT-Arkansas
BCOM
UIWSOM
PCOM Georgia and South Georgia
UP-KYCOM
WVSOM
VCOM (all 3 schools)
CUSOM
LECOM (all schools)
MU-COM
MSUCOM
Go ahead and apply to DO schools in June and submit all your secondaries by July.
You are not competitive for MD schools with your current score. Do not retake until your practice scores are at least 505. Post your score here in September and you may be able to apply to MD schools. Have your AMCAS application ready to submit at that time.

 

[Zobo135]

Are you a Michigan resident ?
You could receive interviews at some DO schools with your current MCAT score and I suggest all these:
ACOM
ARCOM
NYIT-Arkansas
BCOM
UIWSOM
PCOM Georgia and South Georgia
UP-KYCOM
WVSOM
VCOM (all 3 schools)
CUSOM
LECOM (all schools)
MU-COM
MSUCOM
Go ahead and apply to DO schools in June and submit all your secondaries by July.
You are not competitive for MD schools with your current score. Do not retake until your practice scores are at least 505. Post your score here in September and you may be able to apply to MD schools. Have your AMCAS application ready to submit at that time.

I am a Michigan resident.

I took a total of 9 practice exams:

NS1 - 499 (126/123/124/126)
NS2 - 503 (126/125/127/125)
NS3 - 502 (125/125/126/126)
NS4 - 504 (126/126/126/126)
NS5 - 504 (126/126/126/126)
NS6- 505 (126/126/127/126)

AAMC #1 - 497 (124/124/125/126) * I attribute this score to taking a whole week off for my Costa Rica trip as well as final exams occurring right before my trip. I was not able to focus on the MCAT for a good 3 weeks prior to my first AAMC

AAMC#2 -504 (126/126/127/125)
AAMC#3- 505 (126/126/127/126)

I felt that I would at least score a 500 but again I shouldn't be shocked with my results due to my effort. I had too many things going on at once which took away much time from MCAT studying. This summer I will be eliminating everything to strictly focus on my retake. I really do feel like I am much more capable. P.S. Thank you for taking the time to post =)

 

[Goro]

Score is lethal for mD.

Apply broadly to DO, especially targeting the newest schools. Skip CCOM, AZCOM, the Touros, PCOM.

I can't recommend Nova, Wm Carey, LUCOM, for different reasons. MSUCOM? Read up on Larry Nasser and you decide. LMU has an accreditation warning, which concerns me.

 

[deleted931910]

As other posters said, definitely apply DO. A sub-500 MCAT is gonna be an immediate no from MD schools. If you score like 510+ on your second attempt consider throwing some MD schools into the mix. It will be a little later in the cycle, but not too late by any means.

A few other things to keep in mind:
1. Taking the MCAT more than once is a disadvantage even if you do much better the second time. Why take your 510 on attempt #2 over someone who got it on their first try? You'll likely need to explain why you scored so poorly the first time, what you learned, etc at some point.
2. Some (most?) schools average all of your MCAT attempts, so make sure you adjust accordingly when looking at average MCATs for various schools.

Good luck!

 

[candbgirl]

OP looking at your practice scores what was your goal score?

 

[Zobo135]

OP looking at your practice scores what was your goal score?

Goal score was a 505+

 

[Walter Raleigh]

As an MCAT tutor, a lot of my students got improvement using this strategy:

1. Take practice test
2. Study what you got wrong. After you've learned this material,
3. Take practice test.

Repeat as needed.

How is your time management during the test? Answering all the questions is almost invariably the better strategy.

 

[Zobo135]

As an MCAT tutor, a lot of my students got improvement using this strategy:

1. Take practice test
2. Study what you got wrong. After you've learned this material,
3. Take practice test.

Repeat as needed.

How is your time management during the test? Answering all the questions is almost invariably the better strategy.

To be honest, I have always been an extremely quick test taker throughout high school and undergrad. The same has gone for the MCAT. I would typically finish CP/CARS/BB with 15-25 minutes left and PS with 30-50 minutes left. I am not sure if this has actually hurt me or helped me. I do not feel like I am rushing through my exams but instead moving at a comfortable pace. On the actual test day I was a tad bit slower than usual.

 

[Walter Raleigh]

Time's not an issue: that's neutral to good. How's your content review? How's your knowledge of the content? With a 3.75, you seem like a decent student. Are you approaching the MCAT like a college final exam? There's a lot of reasoning involved in the MCAT, and until you're getting up into the 522+ range you're not going to know all the content the AAMC covers on the MCAT - and you don't need to.

 

[Zobo135]

Time's not an issue: that's neutral to good. How's your content review? How's your knowledge of the content? With a 3.75, you seem like a decent student. Are you approaching the MCAT like a college final exam? There's a lot of reasoning involved in the MCAT, and until you're getting up into the 522+ range you're not going to know all the content the AAMC covers on the MCAT - and you don't need to.

I believe what killed me was my lack of content review. My goal was to study from July-January but issues arose as soon as school began. I had to be a full-time student (if I wasn't full time, I would lose all of my scholarships). I was working part-time as well as being committed to numerous volunteer activities. So when September came, everything collapsed because I had to either sacrifice my grades or my MCAT studying and so the MCAT took a hit. I really couldn't afford to quit my job because I need to pay for my car, gas, food..etc. I truly truly believe I am capable of a 510+. Just the management of time was not there. I plan to study from May-August with no summer classes and very little work. I will have much more time to put in true hours.

 

[Walter Raleigh]

If that's the plan I'd say you'll probably see significant gains. Can't promise anything, but your GPA means that you can at least retain academic material and perform at a good level on tests. I'd suggest studying around five hours a day if you're studying full-time; I've found that more than that doesn't help quite as much and can wear on morale - which is very important on the MCAT. Best of luck.

 

[Gilakend]

As other posters said, definitely apply DO. A sub-500 MCAT is gonna be an immediate no from MD schools. If you score like 510+ on your second attempt consider throwing some MD schools into the mix. It will be a little later in the cycle, but not too late by any means.

A few other things to keep in mind:
1. Taking the MCAT more than once is a disadvantage even if you do much better the second time. Why take your 510 on attempt #2 over someone who got it on their first try? You'll likely need to explain why you scored so poorly the first time, what you learned, etc at some point.
2. Some (most?) schools average all of your MCAT attempts, so make sure you adjust accordingly when looking at average MCATs for various schools.

Good luck!

FWIW, I took MCAT twice with first score pretty much same as OPs and have been accepted to T20 school. Many schools take highest or most recent score. AAMC does recommend averaging though. I didn't apply to schools who averaged. Also Michigan resident non-URM as well like OP.

 

[Zobo135]

FWIW, I took MCAT twice with first score pretty much same as OPs and have been accepted to T20 school. Many schools take highest or most recent score. AAMC does recommend averaging though. I didn't apply to schools who averaged. Also Michigan resident non-URM as well like OP.

If you don’t mind me asking, how did you improve your score on your retake. What did you change? Congrats on your acceptance!

 

[Gilakend]

If you don’t mind me asking, how did you improve your score on your retake. What did you change? Congrats on your acceptance!

I'll PM you as not to derail the thread.